I'm afraid my first day in Germany has confirmed my suspicions that attending a German World Cup as a non beer drinker is a bit like dining at a churascaria as a vegetarian. Yes there are other things you can drink, and yes you can still have fun, but it really feels like your missing a lot of the point of the whole operation. We spent most of the afternoon moving from outdoor beer stand to outdoor beer stand, and I have to confess it was a bit of a drag (the half-meter bratwurst notwithstanding.) Things picked up in the late afternoon when we met an American expatriate and then walked with him and his friends to watch the Germany v Costa Rica match with thousands of flag waving Germans. It was quite a sight, with the game on a giant screen in front of us, the Brandenburg Gate to our left, the Reichstag behind us, and a crowd stretched as far as I could see to the right.

Germany led 2-1 at halftime, whereupon our tired foursome took the subway back and caught the last ten minutes on a neighbor's TV set up in the street with around ten people watching. One gentleman, unprompted, began rating politicans for me. Andrea Merkel- "no good." Gerhard Schroeder- "good, good." George W. Bush- (tounge stuck out with thumbs down gesture.) George H. W. Bush- "not too bad." Bill Clinton- "good, I like, I like." Ronald Reagan- "Of course, this is Berlin, 'Tear down this wall Mr. Gorbachev!' So yes... not bad for a Republican."

When the Germans put home a fourth goal late for a two goal lead, our new friends abruptly stopped discussing politics and ran off to throw lit fireworks in the street. We stopped in at a store, and purchased food and a soccer ball grill, and are now grilling so we can eat and crash. Till tomorrow...

ADDENDUM- The Internet cafe is closing in ten minutes and the default language is English and so I can't operate the computer, and a bunch of the keys are in the wrong place on the kezboard so the z's keep turning in to y's and Iäm not evne going to fight it anzmore. Anzwaz, I maz not get the pics uploaded in time, but thez are coming ASAP.
posted by Scott @ 6/09/2006 10:21:00 PM || 3 comments